Canada’s Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is calling on the Canadian Coast Guard to halt its current lighthouse destaffing plan and recommends that destaffing, continued staffing, or restaffing be determined on a lightstation-by-lightstation basis through appropriate guidelines and thorough consultations. Until this is completed, current lightkeeper staff levels should be maintained in the Pacific Region and in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region.

"The views we heard on both coasts were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the keepers. And that is what we are unanimously recommending," says Senator Bill Rompkey, chair of the committee. "While not all lightstations have equal merit, a great number deserve a dedicated staff. An evaluation of which lighthouses should retain their lightkeepers, which ones could be de-staffed, and even whether certain unstaffed lights merit re-staffing, should be immediately done on a case-by-case basis."

According to the report, a long-term policy for lightstations needs to be developed that will prevent cyclical reviews and ensure continuation of a suitable level of staffing. In addition, the committee recommends a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis be undertaken on the full range of services provided by staffed lightstations prior to any further discussion or evaluation of Canada’s lightstations.

"A lightstation-by-lightstation approach to reviewing staffing requires appropriate guidelines and thorough consultations," says Senator Dennis Patterson, deputy chair of the committee. "The views of lightkeepers, user groups, coastal communities and other interested parties, both in the local areas and elsewhere need to be taken into account. Additionally, all the government agencies and stakeholders involved with lightstations should be involved in the process, and should include explorations of possible cost-sharing. The current and potential services provided by lightkeepers must be reviewed in a practical and cost-effective manner."

The committee also recommends a review be conducted to determine the most cost-effective means of maintaining and servicing staffed lightstations, including potential energy savings which can be made available through new approaches to generating power for the needs of personnel on such stations.

Seeing the Light: Report on Staffed Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia is the first of two reports to be issued by the committee as part of its wide-reaching study on Canadian lighthouses. The study began earlier this year after the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans requested the committee study staffed lighthouses. However, the committee determined its own terms of reference which includes both staffing and heritage preservation aspects. In addition to holding public hearings in Ottawa, Senators visited Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia on fact-finding missions.

To learn more about the committee’s lighthouse study and see pictures from the committee’s fact-finding activities, please visit: canadianlighthouses.ca

To learn more about the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans and its work, please visit the committee homepage: http://senate-senat.ca/fopo-e.asp

LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1:

The Committee recommends that the Canadian Coast Guard halt its current destaffing plan, and that destaffing, continued staffing, or restaffing be determined on a lightstation-by-lightstation basis through appropriate guidelines and thorough consultations. Until this is completed, current lightkeeper staff levels should be maintained in the Pacific Region and in the Newfoundland and Labrador Region.

Recommendation 2:

The Committee recommends that a long-term policy for lightstations be developed that will obviate cyclical reviews and that ensures continuation of a suitable level of staffing.

Recommendation 3:

The Committee recommends that the guidelines and consultations (as called for in Recommendation 1) take account of:

a) all the purposes served or potentially served by lightkeepers in a practical and cost-effective manner;

b) all the agencies and/or stakeholders involved with lightstations, including possible cost-sharing agreements; and

c) the views of lightkeepers, user groups, coastal communities and other interested parties, both in the local areas and elsewhere as appropriate.

Recommendation 4:

The Committee recommends that a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis be undertaken on the full range of services provided by staffed lightstations prior to any further discussion or evaluation of Canada’s lightstations.

Recommendation 5:

The Committee recommends that a review be conducted to determine the most cost-effective means of maintaining and servicing staffed lightstations, including potential energy savings which can be made available through new approaches to generating power for the needs of personnel on such stations.